Chapter 109
Chapter 109
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: The Soul's Return
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Dokgo Wi approached right up to him and asked in a resolute voice.
"Any precautions I should take before you begin?"
"Stay at least five jang away from the patient when casting the great ritual. One misstep, and you could get swept up in it."
"Understood."
"Then that's all. You may go."
Dokgo Wi stared intently at Gwang Ui for a moment before bowing his head briefly.
"I leave it in your hands."
As Dokgo Wi headed downward, Hyeok Mulin turned his body.
"Then I'll head down as well."
Gwang Ui nodded, and Hyeok Mulin descended from the altar, taking up a position near Dokgo Wi.
Soon, Gwang Ui walked with heavy steps toward the boy's head, and a chilling silence fell.
Everyone watched his movements in utter quiet, but Dokgo Wi, observing him, still couldn't shake his doubts.
Can someone who even the King of Medicine couldn't cure really have an answer?
Yet under that piercing gaze, Gwang Ui focused solely on the patient before him.
"Let's begin."
Gwang Ui sprinkled Living Spirit Divine Water over the boy's body, then dipped his finger in the blood of the Three Hundred Ghost Kings and smeared a long streak across his own face.
Next, he lit the Mare's Reversal Incense and began chanting the incantation. The world began to change.
Rumble―
Moments ago, the sun had shone brightly, but in an instant, dark clouds blanketed the sky.
The altar, illuminated from behind, was the only spot spared; the rest of the world plunged into night-like darkness.
At the same time, Dokgo Wi doubted his own eyes.
The Soul-Gathering Grand Bell, which had stood still, was moving on its own.
Even stranger, the bell should have rung with a deep tone upon vibrating, yet though it clearly trembled, no sound emerged.
What is this?
The Soul-Gathering Grand Bell was originally meant only for the dead, inaudible to the living.
Unable to grasp the process or truth of it, Dokgo Wi felt frustration boiling inside him.
Then, at that moment.
"Wandering spirits return, Hell's gates open..."
⟨ Soul Summoning Spirit Binding Art ⟩
Gwang Ui placed his hand on the boy's head and murmured the incantation.
The instant he did, a heavy bolt of lightning crashed down, and the hair of all watching stood on end.
A sinister aura settled over their entire bodies; even Dokgo Wi, though he couldn't see it, could clearly feel something happening.
Amid all this, one person alone witnessed the same spectacle as Gwang Ui.
What a sight.
Only Hyeok Mulin, using his Divine Demon Eyes, could share in the process.
As Gwang Ui unleashed the great ritual, a massive aggregate of the dead descended from the heavens.
It was a bizarre form, neither human nor monster, formed by the coalescence of thousands upon thousands of spirits.
"Dokgo Myeong― Dokgo Myeong― Dokgo Myeong―"
Gwang Ui chanted the boy's name three times, and something popped out from the heart of that aggregate.
It was Dokgo Myeong's soul, nearly fused with the spirits.
And that soul was swiftly returning to its body at Gwang Ui's call.
But just as it nearly arrived...
Thud!
The soul halted in place, and Gwang Ui glanced back at it.
Behind Dokgo Myeong's soul trailed hundreds, thousands of spirits in a clinging chain.
They radiated a fierce determination never to let him go, no matter what.
Eerie voices rang in the ears as Gwang Ui crooked his index finger, strengthening the ritual.
A contest of wills unfolded between the intact spirits and Gwang Ui, beads of sweat rolling down his brow.
Time passed, and in the end, Gwang Ui seized the advantage.
The spirits clinging to Dokgo Myeong's soul detached in an instant, and Gwang Ui's chants accelerated. Soon, a bright red trickle of blood streamed from his nose.
Yet he did not stop the ritual.
On the contrary, he chanted faster, louder.
Finally, all spirits fell away, and the moment the pure soul reached Dokgo Myeong's body, light seeped into his mind.
Flash!
The world blazed with blinding brilliance, forcing everyone watching to shield their eyes with their arms.
That brief instant passed, and reality returned.
Dokgo Wi peered at the altar, tilting his head.
"Is it over?"
He wasn't sure, but something had definitely happened.
So, had Gwang Ui's treatment succeeded or failed?
He widened his eyes, focusing on the outcome.
Moments later.
"...!"
Rustle.
The boy, Dokgo Myeong, rubbed his half-closed eyes and slowly sat up.
Dokgo Wi stared at him in disbelief, eyes bulging.
Before he could issue any command from his head, his feet moved naturally toward him.
Dokgo Myeong looked around, then spoke to the approaching figure with a puzzled expression.
"Father?"
Dokgo Wi, reaching him, spoke with bloodshot eyes.
"...Is it really you, Myeong?"
"What in the world..."
Dokgo Myeong's words trailed off unfinished.
Dokgo Wi had undone his robe, revealing his face as he drew near.
His son's face was as youthful as ever.
But his father's face had aged beyond recognition.
"...!"
With that, Dokgo Myeong realized.
His shoulders trembled as he clenched his fists.
He gripped his legs, numb from disuse as if paralyzed, and barely turned his body.
In this very moment.
His halted time began to flow once more.
"Father...!"
The father and son embraced tightly, as if compensating for all the lost years.
Hyeok Mulin and Gwang Ui quietly slipped away, leaving their tearful reunion behind.
Now that the treatment was complete, they deserved to savor that joy fully.
Watching from afar, Gwang Ui soon turned his head.
A rare, contented smile graced his lips.
"A resounding success."
"You got lucky."
Hyeok Mulin congratulated him on the ritual's triumph, but Gwang Ui attributed it to fortune.
Not out of false modesty, but genuine belief.
Still, Hyeok Mulin encouraged him, saying it was natural.
"Everyone's like that at first. Thanks to this, you've gained a precious experience to carry for life."
"True enough. Cases like this patient don't come around often. Without your introduction, I might never have seen one in my lifetime."
Gwang Ui's lips twitched as he continued.
"Though... I didn't actually expect it to succeed."
Sensing something off in his words, Hyeok Mulin looked at him.
"Didn't expect success? Didn't you say the odds were at least fifty percent before?"
"Fifty percent? This was my first time using the Soul-Gathering Grand Bell, and my first casting such a massive ritual in real combat. How could it possibly be fifty? Generously, maybe ten percent."
"Then what was all that talk before?"
"Bluffing, of course. If I told a family their child's survival odds were one in ten, who'd trust me? First priority is always to assure the family it'll work."
This guy's insane.
Hyeok Mulin shook his head with a hollow laugh.
"What if it had failed?"
"Failure's failure. It's what I've done my whole life. I'd just have slept poorly afterward—another person gunning for my neck."
"I see."
Hyeok Mulin's lips twitched, fully taken by his bold gambit and brazen personality.
As they walked on, Hyeok Mulin said solemnly to Gwang Ui.
"I'll keep your use of the Departed Souls Cult's arts a secret."
In truth, only two or three people knew his true identity.
Dokgo Wi, his benefactor, wouldn't speak of it, and the one-eyed man from the Thousand-Year Jade Prison had joined Hyeok Mulin's service anyway, with no reason to talk.
Hyeok Mulin assured him of utmost secrecy.
Though Gwang Ui had used the Departed Souls Cult's arts fused with medicine for the patient's sake, who would understand such nuances?
Once used, he couldn't hide forever, but for now, with no need to flee or seclude immediately, this brought immense relief.
"Thanks. Now I can focus solely on preparing for the Three Thousand Righteous War."
His original purpose in reaching the Divine Province was complete.
Now, only preparations for the Three Thousand Righteous War remained for Gwang Ui.
Fusing medicine and sorcery.
Once a monumental task, it was now feasible after succeeding with Dokgo Myeong.
Hyeok Mulin looked at him evenly.
"As thanks for the treatment, I'll provide lodging. Stay comfortably until the Three Thousand Righteous War begins."
Gwang Ui responded with evident displeasure.
"You want me to live in the King of Medicine's front yard?"
Whatever had happened before, his complaints upon arriving in the Divine Province suggested deep resentment.
"Residing in the Divine Province doesn't mean you'll run into the King of Medicine. Even I haven't met him despite living here all this time."
"That's just because you're disgustingly healthy."
...No rebuttal there.
He'd never been seriously ill or gravely injured.
"I'm not forcing you. Just offering a choice."
Gwang Ui fell silent at that.
Hyeok Mulin's offer suited him perfectly.
With the Divine Province under Hyeok Mulin's control, it was ideal for testing Departed Souls Cult arts further.
And with ties to the Cult Leader, he might even occasionally borrow the sacred relic, the Soul-Gathering Grand Bell.
Take it or pass?
After intense internal debate and considerable time, Gwang Ui decided to grasp Hyeok Mulin's hand.
"I'll accept your kindness."
"Rest easy."
Hyeok Mulin nodded, welcoming the change of heart.
Good choice.
Living here, he'd come to realize it eventually.
Unlike the Central Plains, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult accepted him as he was.
Once he felt that, leaving on his own two feet wouldn't be easy.
A faint smile curved Hyeok Mulin's lips as he vaguely envisioned Gwang Ui's future.